Shredded Plastic Materials as a Growth Medium for Common Plants

Introduction
Land pollution, a continually rising and unstoppable problem in the present time. It is one of the main problems the government is concerned with and people should participate about. Terrible situations such as environmental destruction, economic crisis and most importantly, its effect on the health of the people. At the same time there is also growing concern over the impact of billions of pieces of plastic, both large and small, on the health of the global marine environment. Common causes of pollution are arising technology, uneducated people and lack of environmental awareness. The presence of numerous plastic bags of different types scattered around public places makes an environment polluted. Plastic materials and such are known to be materials that decompose in a long period of time varying to its type and though, people continually abuse its use and do not bother to reuse or recycle them. Previous concerns about plastics included damage and death of wildlife after becoming entangled. There is also concern about wildlife eating plastics often in mistake for food.

The goal of this proposal is the reduction of the abundant plastic bags scattered around us and at the same time to help recondition the environment
The focus will also be on the solutions and opportunities. Ones that bring more intelligent management, a recycling imperative to transforming waste and its environmental and health impacts from a serious problem into a valuable resource and keep humanity's footprint within planetary boundaries.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

This study aims to answer the following questions:
1. What is the significance of mixing biodegradable components to the powdered plastic materials?

1.3 Significance of the Study

The main goal of this study is use the powdered plastic materials as growth medium for common plants. This study only aims to reduce and not to eradicate plastic materials as in some ways it helps people with their works and for the development of the society. There is also an urgent need for improved and more innovative monitoring of plastic throughout the environment given that real gaps remain in understanding the ultimate fate of these materials. If plastic is treated as a valuable resource, rather than just a waste product, any opportunities to create a secondary value for the material will provide economic incentives for collection and reprocessing.

1.4 Review of Related Literature

The name Plastic is derived from the Greek word plastikos, which means able to be shaped. Plastic materials consist of long chain molecules (polymers). Available in many colors and in transparent form, plastics can be rubbery or rigid. Plastic shapes include sheet, rod, hex, pipe, cubes, balls, tubes, etc. Plastics are man-made materials. It has taken the place of traditional materials like woods and metals. Plastics differ from other materials largely because of the size of their molecules. Some plastics are derived from natural substances such as animals, insects and plants but most are man-made. These are named Synthetic Plastics. Plastics have numerous properties that make them superior to other materials in many applications. Plastics generally have resistance to corrosion and chemicals, low electrical and thermal conductivity, high strength-toweight ratio, colors available in a wide variety and transparent, resistance to shock, good durability, resistance to water and low toxicity.

Plastic bags have only been around for about 50 years, so there is no firsthand evidence of their decomposition rate. To make longterm estimates of this sort, scientists often use respirometry tests. The experimenters place a solid waste samplelike a newspaper, banana peel, or plastic bagin a vessel containing microbe-rich compost, then aerate the mixture. Although standard polyethylene bags don't biodegrade, they do photodegrade. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, polyethylene's polymer chains become brittle and start to crack. This suggests that plastic bags will eventually fragment into microscopic granules. As of yet, however, scientists aren't sure how many centuries it takes for the sun to work its magic. That's why certain news sources cite a 500-year estimate while others prefer a more conservative 1,000-year lifespan. According to some plastics experts, all these figures are just another way of saying "a really, really long time."

Materials and Methods

A. Materials:
Several pieces of collected and used common plastic bags and wrappers will be needed. Also prepare certain amount of loam soil. The usage of plots varying to the amount of soil as decided. Garden pots and other compatible materials for planting can also be used depending on the resources. Provision of mung beans soaked in water for the whole night will be required.

B. Methods:
Remove the floating mung beans from the water and use the beans that had sank down. And then drying the beans will be the next procedure. Afterwards, shred and tear the plastic wrappers and bags into small pieces until it will turn into very small pieces. Preparation of certain amount of loam soil will also be required. Preparation of shredded plastic materials and loam soil is also needed and the ratios are as: 1:0, 1:1, 2:1, and 1:2. Then, it will be placed in the prepared plots. Each ratio will be followed for observation. After preparing the pots with the proper amount of soil and plastic materials as mentioned in the ratios, plant the same amount of healthy beans for each prepared set up of pots. An area with the same distribution of sunlight and ventilation is where the pots will be placed. There will be an observation to be conducted for three to four weeks.

ANOVA is the statistical tool that will be used to determine whether the plastic materials and soil to determine whether plastic materials can be a growth medium for growing plants since there will be many variables that will be used. There will be four trials that will be conducted by the researchers with the rate of 1:0, 1:1, 2:1 and 1:2 that will enable to find the different results among the trials that have been made to test the ability of plastic materials in the soil to be a growth medium for growing plants. This process will be able to determine whether there is a significant difference between the ratios used and to determine if shredded plastic materials alone or plastic materials accompanied by soil can be a growth medium for plants.